🔥 Lighting fires

In ancient cultures around the world, the fire stick carrier held a sacred responsibility — they didn’t just bring fire to the camp. They brought warmth, light, and the possibility of life itself. They carried the ember from the old fire to the new. They kept the stories, protected the spark, and passed it on at just the right time.

I have come to understand that this is my role in leadership and culture work.

I am a fire stick carrier.

Not the guru. Not the hero. Not the loudest voice in the room.

But the one who sees the dormant ember in a person, team, or culture — and offers the conditions to spark it into flame.

The Spark We’ve Forgotten

We live in a time where leadership is often confused with dominance, performance, or charisma. But that’s not leadership — that’s theatre.

The real spark of leadership lies in our ability to choose presence over power.

As leadership strategist Margaret Wheatley writes:

“Leadership is a series of behaviours rather than a role for heroes.”

Yet in most modern workplaces, leaders are over-functioning, under-supported, and disconnected from their true source of inner authority.

Many are exhausted, reacting instead of responding, firefighting instead of stewarding. And cultures reflect that — high in reactivity, low in resonance.

What we need are more fire keepers — people who tend the inner flame of consciousness, clarity, and responsibility.

What we need is Steward Eldership™.

From Leadership to Steward Eldership™

Steward Eldership is the evolution of leadership we’re being called into — not to lead from the front, but to steward from within and among.

It’s less about being the expert or decision-maker, and more about being the space-holder, the sense-maker, and the systems weaver.

In my work with leaders, boards, and organisations, I use fire as both metaphor and method.

🔥 We begin by returning to what matters.
We gather in circle. We listen. We pause. We slow down enough to feel again — feel the tension, the disconnection, the yearning for something more meaningful.

🔥 Then we find the ember.
It’s always there. Under the noise. Under the performance. A spark of purpose, a memory of why they chose this path in the first place.

🔥 And then we breathe life into it.
Through grounded processes, cultural decoding, and ancient-yet-practical frameworks like the 10 Degree Shift™ and the Culture Spectrum™, we help leaders reconnect with themselves, with each other, and with the pulse of the organisation they steward.

Fire Doesn’t Belong to Me — It Belongs to All of Us

My role isn’t to be the flame for everyone.

It’s to help others remember their own fire — to support leaders in becoming fire carriers in their own right.

When I work with a CEO, I don’t ask, “What’s your strategy?”
I ask, “What are you stewarding? What are you protecting? What are you allowing to die so something more alive can emerge?”

When I work with a dysfunctional team, we don’t jump straight into KPIs or conflict resolution.
We go back to the ashes. We sift through what’s been lost, what’s still glowing, and what’s possible now.

Lighting Many Fires, Not Just One

This is slow work. This is sacred work. It’s not about quick fixes or one-off workshops that fade in a week.

True change happens when the leader becomes the culture — when they embody the kind of presence, care, and courage they want others to model.

In Indigenous Australian culture, the fire stick was carried across Country not to dominate, but to renew — burning off the old growth so the new could thrive. This cultural burning was deeply intelligent — ecological, seasonal, spiritual.

Likewise, our work in leadership must be regenerative.

We must tend what’s ready to be let go.
We must steward what is waiting to grow.
We must ignite what is longing to burn brighter.

The Leadership We Need Now

Leaders are being called into something deeper than authority.
Organisations are yearning for cultures rooted in belonging, clarity, and contribution.

The fire stick isn’t just a tool.
It’s a symbol.

Of our shared responsibility.
Of our capacity to carry the spark and pass it on.
Of the ancient truth that real leadership is never taken — it is entrusted.

So if you're feeling like your fire has gone out — or like your team is walking through smoke and confusion — know this:

The ember is still there.

All it needs is the right breath.

And I’m here to help you find it.

Let’s light the next fire — together.

The Steward Eldership path commences in 2026 – to join the waiting list please email us to let us know, and we will send you more info (shh it’s a sacred secret)